MOVING BEYOND THE ENTRANCE

“[Christ’s] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire… For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  (2 Peter 1:3,4,11 ESV)

We come to Jesus Christ and He does for us what He promised; and the thing works out. To our amazement, it works out. And then we settle down. We have had our own first-hand and irrefutable experience. But, instead of opening the windows to the glory of the sunshine so evidently there, instead of being incited to a hugeness of faith by what Christ has already done for us, we can't believe that there can be anything more, or that even He can work, for us, anything better. That first foretaste satisfies us. And so we camp for life out on the confines of the Kingdom, and never press on to inherit what is there and meant for us. 

-- A. J. Gossip (1873-1954) in “Experience Worketh Hope” [1944] 

#6208

FIRSTHAND INFORMATION

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched -- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”  (1 John 1:1 NIV)

Are you basing your knowledge of Jesus on hearsay evidence? Is it based on what you’ve heard a pastor say, or your parents or friends say… or maybe someone in the media or in a book?

Many are willing to say that Jesus was a good man, even a great man, or even a prophet from God. But they stop short of truly being convinced that He is virgin-born, the unique, only begotten Son of God -- God Himself in a man’s body. They stop short of saying He is God’s Lamb, sacrificed for the sin of the world… that He is the risen Lord, the reigning King. Yet God said in Mark 9:7, “This is My Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!”

Stop getting information about Jesus secondhand. Get it firsthand by reading God’s Word. Get to know Him for yourself. 

-- Anne Graham Lotz in “Fixing My Eyes on Jesus”